The real story at Canoe Bay, however, is the food. They'll make you a picnic lunch if you want, but dinners and breakfasts set this resort apart from everywhere else; lunch is a nice time to venture out to Chetek or 30 minutes to the north to Rice Lake.

At Canoe Bay's private restaurant, you'll find the multi-course meals are beautifully though out, organically and locally sourced, and ripe with quality that's actually noticeable. Our first night, we dined on wild rice cod cakes with lime aioli and cilantro, spring asparagus soup and pan-seared Alaskan halibut with saffron couscous. I'm not a big fish guy, so I substituted for potato gnocchi with fresh vegetables. Of course, between courses, we cleansed our palates with honeydew and thyme sorbet.

Dessert was a playful "carrot cake tasting," consisting of carrot sorbet, spice cake and cream cheese mousse. The servers chose a nice bottle of somewhat rare Peccorino wine to accompany our meal; the resort's expansive cellar houses hundreds of bottles, and for super-special occasions, one can actually dine inside it.

Breakfasts are a special part of the experience, too. At a pre-picked time (we went with 9 a.m. to accommodate our 11 hours of sleep; yes, we were that relaxed), someone from the small staff brings guests a picnic basket of fresh food right to the cottage door. Side note: the staff really works all aspects of the resort, from the front desk to the private dining room. That means that they are an integral part of the experience; polite and gracious and in touch with their guests' needs.

Both mornings, we enjoyed omelets with aged cheddar, their signature baked oatmeal, bakery, fresh fruit, coffee and orange juice. I'm a big breakfast guy, and Canoe Bay's offerings were delicious.

Amazingly, our second dinner was even better than our first. We began with a tiny cup of dense, mushroom soup, followed by a salad of Mississippi greens with berries and cave-aged Marisa cheese. The sorbet (I love that) was pineapple Riesling, which paved the way for slow-roasted beef tenderloin, gratin potatoes and asparagus in a cabernet sauce. Dessert consisted of molten chocolate cake and roasted banana ice cream, and for a final touch, the chef presented two tiny, homemade "peeps," since it was the night before Easter. All this was perfected paired with another wine chosen for us, a red blend called "Hey Mambo."

It takes a lot for me to gush endlessly about any individual experience. Friends say I'm picky and quick to find fault in just about anything. But short of the slightly -- and only slightly -- oversold Frank Lloyd Wright angle, Canoe Bay is nearly perfect: The meals were simply superb, perfectly portioned and ever so thoughtfully planned. The setting, both inside and out, is utterly idyllic; on a hike through the woods, three deer leapt past us -- I've never seen the species quite that close up. And the relaxing touches, from fresh flowers to toasty fireplaces to serene classical music popping up in unexpected places -- it made the five-hour drive to this remote hideaway eminently worthwhile.

The rooms in the lodge start at just over $300 per night, but a private cottage is the way to do it, and that goes all the way past $1,800 per night. You'll be more than delighted, however, with their "mid range" offerings like the cottage we stayed in.

Obviously, plan to spend a lot of money to make Canoe Bay a weekend reality, well upwards of $1,000 for a weekend. But do keep in mind that it's a car trip, not a plane trip, and the drive is actually quick and pleasant -- outside of Canoe Bay, you'd have to pay to fly somewhere this nice, and that's a significant expense you'll skip.

Now that I know what you get for the money, I could envision returning for the most special of occasions, as the memories of this incredibly relaxing weekend were priceless and will be conjured up for years to come. Such an experience may not be for everyone, but for those looking for the best lodging Wisconsin has to offer, well, it's hiding in tiny Chetek.